Journey to the world of steam
by Prowlfan1011
Summary: A young man has been a long time fan of the Thomas And Friends series and gets sent to the universe where Thomas and his friends live, but here's the problem, he's stuck at the beginning events of The Adventure begins, and from there, he's about to experience the entire series all over again, but this time as an engine driver.
1. Chapter 1

**Me: Hey guys, Alpha isn't here today, so we have a new guy to introduce.**

 **Fred: That's right, the name's Fredrick Williams, but you can call me Fred, and Welcome to Journey To The World Of Steam.**

 **Me: That's the name of the story, however, this will add advents from the RWS, the model series (Barring 8-12 since people don't want to talk about it), The Adventure Begins, and so forth, along with the Magic Railroad, there will be some original stories, but I will try to keep them as close as I can to the series.**

 **Fred: Wow, and you already finished this chapter? that's an achievement so far.**

 **Me: Oh stop, it's not really an achievement, I can say that I did that with Mighty Morphin Sonic Rangers months ago. And believe me, Fred, this story has a connection to my Captain N crossover story, and you were mentioned, but not by name.**

 **Fred: I see, but why?**

 **Me: You're about to find out. *Get's crushed by the disclaimer again* WHY ME?!**

 **Discaimer: Prowl does not own Thomas and Friends, he only owns his OCs as well as the story**

 **Fred: *Lifts the disclaimer as I get out from under it* Is this the fist time it's happened to you?**

 **Me: Trust me, this is not the first time this happened to me, but it's the first time in a while that this happened to me**

 **Me & Fred: Enjoy the fist chapter, folks!**

* * *

Fred was excited to see the newest season of Thomas And Friends since he heard of it's release on the web before it could be seen on TV, he had been a little kid when he first heard of the series through the books, and since he was getting older, his love for the series had not gone away, he always kept the biggest book containing the Railway Series, although it was old, it was kept in great condition, he took care of it everyday, and not only did he read the books, he watched it's cartoon adaptations on television and always kept DVDs of the series in a neat and orderly fashion, he also had toys of the engines, each from wooden Railway to model engines, and some that looked like real life engines for the Wooden Railway since they were compatible with the tracks, but not the engines themselves.

He lay on his bed, wondering what it must be like to drive an engine, however, his thoughts were intercepted by the magical engine herself, she thought about appearing before him, but that would make him freak out if he saw her in his dreams. She saw him asleep with the Railway Series collection book held in his arms, it amused her, but then she had a thought, if she could send him to the island of Sodor, he would be able to experience driving an engine, and so her magic surrounded the young man and the book, but then it did something rather unexpected, it sent him and the book through the Magic Railroad, but back into the past, Lady knew her magic was powerful, but it was unpredictable and she couldn't do anything about the situation, she hoped the young man would be alright.

The last thing he knew was that he went to bed, but a bright light woke him up from his nap, it couldn't have been morning already, and he knew it wasn't, but the light proved him wrong. "I just went to sleep, don't tell me it's morning already." he said groggily, waking up and rubbing his eyes, and when he opened them, he was in a complete shock, he was in a yard, and it had tracks and a station, he looked for any engine nearby, and he realized was in his pajamas, he needed clothes, and fast, luckily, he saw his wallet lying next to him, then he found his book, and picked it up, he didn't know where he was, but he knew that he needed to get clothes, and fast.

He looked in his wallet and found that British money was beside his own money, he figured that someone prepared him with the money he needed to buy clothes with, he didn't know who, but he silently thanked them for it, looking for the nearest clothing store, he went there and bought whatever he felt was right if he didn't want to draw suspicion to himself while wearing his pajamas in public. He walked out wearing some of the new clothes he bought and went back to where he woke up, and as he got there, three steam engines were talking to each other, he couldn't place where he had seen them before, looking at his book, he instantly recognized the blue and black engines as Edward and James respectively, the teal engine he didn't recognize until realization hit him that the teal engine was Thomas himself.

 _Wow, I'm on Sodor, but is this..._ He thought when realization struck him again. _I can't believe I'm here in the events of The Adventure Begins, If I can get to work my way into becoming a driver, maybe I'll be able to drive one of the engines, preferably not Gordon though, his cartoon counterpart has given him a bad reputation, Edward is a good elective, but he'll only be temporary, I do want to be Thomas's driver though._ He thought, as if on cue, Gordon appeared, and it went like it did in the movie, as Gordon left, Fred walked up to the engines as soon as Sir Topham Hatt did.

"Excuse me, but do you need a driver as well as a tank engine, sir?" He asked, everyone looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you new here?" Sir Topham Hatt asked, Fred nodded. "Yes sir, I came from America, and I was wondering if I can get a job as a driver for one of your engines, preferably not the big blue one, I saw him and I've got a feeling that he's been like this ever since. But the one with the number two I will work with temporarily, he's old, but he's really useful." He explained, Sir Topham Hatt pondered in thought, looking at both Fred and Edward, then he smiled. "Hmm, now that you mention it, I do need a driver for my engines, we are on short notice and we really need the help, so I welcome you in to my railway, Edward will show you and Thomas what to do, so please listen to his instructions, and I will assign you to Edward for the time being, until you are ready for your first assignment, you will be spending time in the yard." He said, then he noticed the book in Fred's arm. "Is that a book? Well, I see you like to read, but take my advice, read in your free time when you finish your training." He said, catching Fred off guard.

"Yes sir, I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He said nervously as Sir topham Hatt left. _He wasn't supposed to see it! Oh well, he didn't ask what it was about, so I'm safe for the time being._ He thought as he began walking to Edward. "I'm Fred, it's nice to meet you, Edward." He said, introducing himself to the blue tender engine. "It's nice to meet you too, Fred. Say, when you got here, where did you come from? You look like you bought those clothes recently." Edward said, looking at Fred's clothes.

Fred looked embarrassed. "I'll tell you later, right now, I have to start my training, I'm temporarily assigned you after all." He said, everyone laughed.

It was hard work, but Fred was soon adjusting to Edward's controls, while Thomas was having a hard time getting around the yard, Thomas had a few mishaps and near misses, but he eventually got tired at the end of the day.

Soon everyone...well, almost everyone was in the shed, Fred noticed that Henry was missing, but he knew that Henry would come in seconds after Thomas did because he was afraid of the rain, Fred was right that Henry did come in. Everyone was now in the sheds, the doors were shut as to not let the rain in. Edward looked to Fred. "Are you going to tell us how you got here?" He asked, Fred looked around, know that almost everyone was paying attention, but it didn't matter, he was going to tell them anyway, more specifically Edward. "Alright, you asked about where I came from, and I'll give you a straight and honest answer, I really don't know, but what I do know is that I landed here without knowing how it happened, you see, I have a passion for engines, both steam and diesel, although, it'll be a while before a diesel will come here, I also wanted to experience what it was like being a engine driver, and I guess someone sent me here to which I can thank them for doing so, the only thing besides the wallet I have is the book you saw me with, it contains stories about engines, some you might be familiar with." Every engine was looking at him. "Yes I know, but I can't read them all to you, but I can start with four, if that's alright." He said, sitting between Thomas and Edward. "I'd like to hear them, did you write them?" Thomas asked, Fred chuckled. "No, but if I did, these stories wouldn't popular from where I came from. Yes, I do come from a America, but the America I came from is in a different world and in a different time period. Now, let me begin." He said as he began reading the first story, the engines were surprised, but none more so than Edward and Thomas when Fred finished the story.

James was the first to react. "But how? That story couldn't have been about Edward! That was about couple of months ago!" He exclaimed, Fred seemed none to happy about that. "That's because this was first story that was ever written, and how were you even there? I don't seem to recall you even being there." He snapped, James went silent after that, Thomas was surprised. "Is that what happened Edward? Were you the only smallest engine in the shed?" He asked, Edward chuckled. "Indeed I was, Thomas, but I bet Fred has two more stories to read." He replied, Fred smiled.

"Yep, now this next one is about Henry, don't ask why, but this was the second story written after the first one." He said, beginning the second story, Gordon listened in, but he wasn't too thrilled about his portrayal in the story, be he was confused as to why the story took place after the first story, but decided to say nothing, Henry knew what was coming next. "Are the second and third story about me?" Fred swore he heard wrong, but Henry's question was heard clear as day. "Well yes, they're about you, Edward and Gordon are also involved, and James is somewhat involved, because of the books here." Fred finished before he began reading the two stories, Thomas was shocked hear that Henry had got stuck in the tunnel because of the rain, James confirmed that he was there, Gordon laughed at Henry's expense. Henry said nothing, Thomas was furious at Gordon for making fun of Henry, Edward reassured him that everything was alright, Fred only looked in shame at what he had done.

"Sorry, I didn't know what I was thinking, Henry, if you want, I'll stop reading." He offered, but Henry kindly declined the offer. "I'll be alright, besides, the next story proves that I'm not useless." He said as Gordon soon stopped laughing. "Oh no...not that story." He paled, not that the fact his face was already gray, but the fact that the word "next" made him realize that the story was that he burst his safety valve right in front of Henry, he didn't want hear it, but Thomas egged Fred on, and so Fred continued to read.

Thomas now laughed at Gordon's expense along with Henry joining in on the laughter as well as James, Edward just smiled as the story was finished. "Well, I guess we've all heard the stories, now why don't we get some sleep?" He asked, prompting everyone to get some sleep.

The next morning came early, Fred watched as Thomas went to the Steam Works to be repainted, but not before he climbed aboard Edward. "Alright Edward, shall we continue today's training exercise?" He asked, Edward smiled. "Of course, Fred, we'll continue training today before you're ready to do the job you're meant to do." He said, half jokingly, Fred understood why, and he knew that Edward meant well.

It was still early enough that morning, Edward heard Thomas calling his name, indicating that Thomas had gotten back from the Steam Works with his new coat of paint. "Look Edward, I'm blue, just like you!" Thomas said happily, Edward and Fred chuckled. "And you're also number one." Edward said, Thomas gasped excitedly. "Does that mean I'm the best?" He asked, Fred was about to reply until Gordon's whistle was heard. "Don't look now, but here comes Mr. big, blue & pompous." Fred said, looking back in dismay, Thomas kept quiet, holding back the urge to laugh at Goron's new nickname.

"The last number one was coffeepot." He said, making James laugh. Thomas didn't know what a coffeepot engine was until Edward explained. "Coffeepot is just nickname for an engine with a boiler that points up in the air, like those things people make coffee in." He explained, Fred nodded, knowing that Edward was correct. "It's true, there's still one coffeepot engine left on Sodor, and I refuse to think about what happened to the others." He said grimly, Gordon didn't care for Edward's teachings because all he cared about was taking the express. "Stop chatting, and bring me my coaches!" He ordered, Edward sighed and looked at Thomas. "You'd better better do it, Thomas. Fred and I have a train to take today, which means that this is Fred's last day in training, so he has to learn how to take goods and passenger trains while driving an engine." He said, Fred nodded, Thomas looked upset.

"But...I thought we were going to be working together." He said, Edward smiled. "We are, just not all the time." Gordon's whistle sounded, it was clear that he was getting impatient. "My Coaches!" Gordon boomed, Edward was heading over to his goods train, this caused Gordon to be surprised. "Why are you on a goods train? You're supposed to be shunting my coaches." He said, dismayed at the sight of Edward's goods train. "Well, Mr. big, blue & pompous, we aren't doing that because Thomas is doing that today, this is also my last day in training as well before I actually get the job as an engine driver, I'll drive any engine, but not you, thankfully. Now my training may look like it's rushed, but I seem to know how to work it out." He said to almost everyone, especially Gordon.

It was in the evening when it was almost time to return to the sheds, James came by with Annie and Clarabel, and halted to a stop, both Fred and Thomas could smell the smoke coming from Jame's cab. "Do you smell something smokey, James? Like a burning smell?" This caught James off guard. "No." He denied, sniffing the smoke. "Nothing out of the ordinary." He was uncoupled from Annie and Clarabel, feeling embarrassed and left. _Poor James._ Fred thought worryingly. _Any day and he'll have an accident when his brake blocks catch fire, I hope that really doesn't have to happen._ Then he saw Thomas was talking to Henry, Fred saw the conversation from a distance, he knew Thomas wasn't teasing Henry, and it was only just a question, and at that point, Henry left, Fred really forgot that James's accident would happen sooner than expected, so he went to Sir Topham Hatt's office.

He knocked on the door, and Sir Topham Hatt called for him to come in. "Sorry to interrupt sir, but it's about James's wooden brake blocks." Sir Topham hatt could see the worry in Fred's face. "I see. I thank you for your concern, but I already know about James's brake blocks, I knew they wouldn't catch fire until James would have an accident, obviously, someone thought that wooden brake blocks were better for an engine." Sir Topham Hatt replied, looking out towards the station, then back to Fred. "How did you know about about James's wooden brake blocks?" He asked, getting suspicious, Fred was about to panic, he didn't know what to say.

All of a sudden, his mouth opened, and words he hadn't expected flew out. "I saw him letting out smoke from his cab, it wasn't much, but it was enough for me for to see, and how the smoke got to me, I'll never know. But he did look embarrassed about it, though." He said, knowing it was unexpected, but what he did say was the truth, Sir Topham Hatt looked in thought, considering what Fred said was true or not, but it was believable enough to be the truth. "Sir, I believe that James's brake blocks should be checked before he has an accident. it's the least we can do before it happens." Fred pleaded, looking like he was begging for it to be avoided, and he really was.

With that, Sir Topham Hatt sighed. "Very well, I'll look into it, and you do realize that tomorrow is when you're assigned to Thomas, right?" He asked, Fred had almost forgotten about that, he suddenly remembered that Sir Topham Hatt was right. "Thanks for reminding me, sir. May I have two paper bags? I feel that Gordon's going to try to pay Thomas out for pranking him with the wake up call, yesterday." He explained, Sir Topham Hatt was confused, but he handed Fred the two paper bags anyway. "If I may ask, why two paper bags?" He asked, Fred explained. "One for lunch, and the other for if Gordon actually does goes through with his plan." He said grimly. "I hope you'll be on the express when it happens." He said, Sir Topham Hatt considered thinking about it. "Alright, I'll think about it, if Gordon does what you think he'll do, I'll be there." He said, Fred let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, sir. I'll see you tomorrow." He said, leaving the office, and headed off to Edward. "Are you alright, Fred?" He asked, Fred looked fine, but he was worried. "I'm fine, but I'm worried about tomorrow, Edward, I'm afraid that Gordon will try and carry out his plan." He explained to Edward.

That night, Fred had trouble sleeping as much as Thomas did, they couldn't stand Gordon's boasting, the others didn't pay attention to his boasting, and fell asleep.

The next morning, Thomas wouldn't wake up because he didn't have enough steam and was up all night due to Gordon's boasting, Henry blew his whistle to wake Thomas up. "You need to wake up, Thomas. It's nearly time for the express. Gordon will be waiting for his coaches." he said as he left for his goods train. Fred shoveled enough coal into Thomas's firebox, and at last, Thomas started, now fully awake. "Oh dear! Oh dear! Must get going. Must get going!" He said, now moving to get started shunting for the day.

Later that morning, Thomas had brought had brought Gordon's coaches last, Gordon still hadn't forgotten about the prank that Thomas pulled on him two days ago, and when Thomas came into view. "Hurry up, you!" He called, Thomas wasn't in the mood, either. "Hurry up, yourself." He mumbled, Fred knew it was too late. _Thomas, you fool! You fell for it!_ Fred thought, scared of knowing what was coming next.

"Hmm. Yes, I will." Gordon quietly said as the coaches were buffered up, everyone including Sir Topham Hatt scrambled in. _Oh no, here we go!_ Fred thought in despair as Gordon started off so quickly, that the station master and porter forgot to uncouple Thomas in time. It was no use as Thomas tried to stop, but Gordon had kept going, which made the paper bag containing Fred's lunch to be thrown out of Thomas's cab, Fred didn't notice because he had eaten breakfast and he nearly threw up, it wasn't until that they got to Vicarstown station, Fred got out the empty paper bag and finally threw up. "HA! Well, little Thomas, now you know what hard work is like, don't you?" Just as he was about to go, a familiar voice appeared. "Gordon, I am ashamed of you!" Gordon knew who that voice belonged to, Sir Topham Hatt had just gotten out of the first coach, he wasn't pleased. "Fred was right, You did carry out your plan, now I know why he needed two paper bags." He said, looking at Fred who now lay on the ground and to Thomas, who had nothing to say because he was out of breath. Sir Topham Hatt then looked back at Gordon.

"I said it once, and I'll say it again, you big engines are always causing me trouble. I'm glad Henry's not the one causing trouble this time, but I can't say the same for you. You did something childish and caused confusion and delay, I don't want people laughing at my railway." He said crossly, Gordon tried to find a way out of it, but Sir Topham Hatt wouldn't let him finish. "Do not even start, Gordon, You will pull goods trains after tomorrow for the rest of the week as punishment for playing a trick on Thomas, Think long and hard about what you've done." He finished, Gordon was in disgrace, he silently blamed both Fred and Thomas. Sir Topham Hatt managed to bring a drink of water to Fred to help ease his stomach and throat. "Thank you." Fred said hoarsely due to his throat hurting because of how hard he threw up. Thomas had a long drink til he felt better, Sir Topham Hatt looked at him, he wasn't cross, but he was disappointed. "And you know better than to prank a fellow engine, Thomas, but I'll let you off with a warning, be glad you didn't end up like Gordon, He'll be doing goods trains for the rest of the week, but please don't do that again." He warned, Thomas sighed. "Yes sir, I won't do It again, I promise." He said with a bit of sadness in his voice, Sir Topham Hatt nodded. "You look like you're worn out for the day, have a rest, Thomas, I want you to return to work tomorrow when you're fully rested." He then turned to Fred, who was feeling a little better. "I'm afraid you lost your lunch, thanks to Gordon, I'll pay for your lunch when we go to the Sodor cafe." He said, catching Fred off guard. "But I...can't." Was all he managed to get out, his throat was still sore.

Sir Topham Hatt laughed. "I insist, Fred, you need it. After all, your warning did come through, And I'm glad you told me." He said, Fred was about to reply, but a remaining chunk from breakfast was caught in his throat, he opened the bag again to throw up. Thankfully, it wasn't as bad as it was minutes ago, coughing, Fred managed to barely speak in a full sentence. "Thank the lord I had this bag handy, otherwise I would have made a big mess." He said, Sir Topham Hatt chuckled. "And I'm glad you didn't, we would have to clean this mess up if you didn't have that bag handy. Still, I think you and Thomas deserve a rest." He finished.

The rest of the day went normal, Fred was treated to lunch at the Sodor cafe and went back to the sheds with Thomas that evening, they were both glad for the day to be over, Edward looked at Fred with worry. "I saw what happened, Fred. Are you Thomas alright?" He asked, Fred wasn't happy. "No thanks to Mr. big, blue & Pompous, he made me lose both my breakfast and lunch. Thankfully, he was given goods trains as punishment after tomorrow for the rest of the week after tricking Thomas, I'm glad that I was treated to lunch, I didn't want it, but Sir Topham Hatt insisted, He was too generous. I know he's kind, yet stern, but he didn't have to be generous." Edward, James, and Henry were shocked and surprised.

"I didn't know Sir Topham Hatt was on Gordon's train. I guess I was too busy to pay attention to you and Thomas. Oh, by the way, my driver and fireman found your lunch bag, we were going to give it to you after you got back, but since you were treated to lunch, I guess you can have it for tomorrow." Edward said, allowing his driver to give Fred back the lunch he lost to Gordon, he looked at the driver.

"Thanks Gilbert." He said, receiving the bag from the driver. "You're welcome, Fred. You know, if I were you, I'd keep my lunch bag close the next time I go with an engine." Gilbert advised, Fred smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." He really meant it. The rest of the drivers were about to leave when Fred called out. "why don't you guys stay here for the night? Besides the engines, I'm the only driver who sleeps here." He said, the drivers thought that Fred was right and he had nowhere else to go. "Why not?" Asked Mr. Arkwright, Gilbert turned to him. "Sure he's new, but does he have to stay at the sheds when the engines are there?"He asked, Gilbert and the others were reconsidering their thoughts, then Gilbert had an idea. "Why don't we stay with him, tonight, that way, we could get to know him better." Everyone agreed to his idea, Fred smiled as the other drivers came over to the sheds, and out of the other drivers was a woman a year younger than Fred himself.

Fred looked at the female driver. "And who are you? I didn't even see you around days ago." He said, looking at the woman, she had red hair, freckles, brown eyes, and that was all he could see, the woman turned in his direction to respond. "Oh, sorry. My name's Vanessa Lodge, and you are?" She said, introducing herself, Fred could tell Vanessa was American like him, he wasted no time in responding, "Fred Williams, Nice to meet you, Vanessa, are you new?" He asked, Vanessa nodded. "Yep, are you new here?" Fred could tell that she wanted to know him more. "Only by three days, I'd advise you not to take Gordon out tomorrow, he's in a bad mood from what happened earlier this morning, he tricked Thomas here, and made me lose my breakfast, I told Sir Topham Hatt yesterday about what happened earlier today because I planned it, and now since Gilbert handed me my lunch, I'll be able to eat it tomorrow." He said, recalling the events that happened, he continued. Like you and me, Thomas is new, but like me, he's been here for three days. So which engine were you on?" He asked, Vanessa laughed. "James, he's sort of funny, but I don't know why he has wooden brake blocks, they could catch fire immediately during an accident." She said, confused about Jame's wooden brake blocks, Fred and the drivers knew very well about Jame's problem.

"Well, Sir Topham Hatt knows about Jame's wooden brakes, He said he'll look into it, Hopefully, it'll be soon." He said, Gilbert and Mr. Arkwright nodded. "Somehow, I think he knew when he bought James a few years ago." Arkwright said, earning a look of disbelief from Vanessa. "It's true, about eight years ago, I was about Fred's age when James first arrived, and in all my years of working with him, I never noticed until about a couple days before Fred and Thomas came, James started releasing smoke, although it was small at first, it began to be a problem when the smoke started getting out of the cab, nobody noticed but us and Sir Topham Hatt." He finished, Vanessa seemed concerned about James.

Then she noticed Fred's book on a table near the wall a few feet away from Thomas. "Is that your book?" She asked, pointing to the book, everyone now looked at the mentioned book, Fred was panicking in his mind. Gilbert saw the cover. "Ah, You've written a book, have you, Fred?" He asked curiously, Fred looked like he was about to brake apart. "Alright! I know you have questions, but ask them one at at time." He was about to tell them anyway as they asked him, He explained it to them in the same way same way he told the engines, the drivers were much more understanding, and felt sorry for him, Vanessa most of all. It was almost time for bed and Fred as getting tired, the others were as well. And by the time Everyone one finished talking, they went to sleep.

The sun was coming up next morning, and Fred was getting ready to start Thomas up, until he heard frustrated groans coming from Henry's cab. "What's the matter?" He asked, clearly forgetting that today was the day Henry's boiler wasn't working properly, Vanessa came up. "Henry's boiler isn't working right, I don't know if I can identify the problem, do you know what the problem is?" Her question hit Fred like a brick, he suddenly remembered. _Oh boy, I should have seen that coming._ He thought, realizing what to do next, then he thought of something. "How about we try Welsh coal?"He asked, that made Vanessa look in surprise, then her surprise turned into disbelief. "Are you crazy? That coal is expensive! We can't afford that kind of coal!" She said, not even wanting to think about it.

Fred couldn't believe what he was hearing, he then turned around to start Thomas's fire, and looked back at Vanessa. "If you want to prove me wrong, then hop in Thomas's cab. I'll keep an eye on your progress when we have to shunt the trains." He said is if making it a challenge, Thomas hadn't moved yet, so Vanessa climbed in, and started Thomas without warning, although he was going slow at first, he was going at the normal speed when he got to Knapford station, Fred simply couldn't believe what Vanessa was doing, she was making up for lost time, although she was going much too fast, she wanted to prove that she wanted to be the first female driver, but although she was in too much of a hurry, She didn't know that what she was about to do would cause confusion and delay, and Fred knew this. _We're bound to get into trouble if she's going to cause it._ He thought, although he knew that Thomas was happy, he knew that Thomas would also cause confusion and delay, but that would only result in even more trouble, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of humming, and it came from Thomas. "Who knew Thomas could sing or hum, huh?" He asked Vanessa, but she was too busy paying attention on shunting the coaches to platform one, he overheard Edward telling Thomas that pulling trains hard work, but neither Thomas or Vanessa listened.

And while the coaches were shunted, Fred got out, and saw Sir Topham Hatt pacing back and forth and turned to face him. You'll have to find another engine to take these coaches, Fred. We can't have the passengers complain and say what a bad railway this is." He said, not liking the the situation, Fred gestured over Thomas. "There's only Thomas , sir. All the others except Henry are out dong their jobs, and Henry's having trouble with his boiler, so Thomas is the only engine available,sir." He explained, Sir Topham Hatt looked at Thomas who was smiling innocently, with a sigh, Sir Topham Hatt gave in. "You'll have to do it then Thomas, be quick now." He ordered, Thomas was far too reluctant. "Yes sir, sir." He said as he ran around the coaches and backed up safely so not to bump them, what happened next nobody knows.

Thomas heard the station master's whistle, originally it was for Edward, but he thought it was for him, and Went off without the coaches, leaving everyone, including Fred and Sir Topham Hatt behind, Vanessa didn't notice because she only heard the whistle. Fred knew he'd have a talk with Vanessa after the incident as he tried to help Sir Topham Hatt calm the passengers down, it was an hour before Thomas and Vanessa came back, The passengers saw how sad Thomas was and couldn't be cross, Vanessa was humiliated, her sobs could be heard from Thomas's cab, Sir Topham Hatt walked over to Thomas looking disappointed "I'm sorry, sir." Thomas said, he knew he'd get into trouble. "I did say to wait until everything was ready." He said, reminding Thomas. "I guess I was a little too excited, this is my first time pulling a passenger train, and I guess I blew it." Sir Topham Hatt understood and smiled. "Ah well Thomas, early days, early days." He said, cheering up Thomas a little, Vanessa was still sobbing when Fred hugged her. "It's okay, Vanessa, I'm here. It'll be alright." He soothed, but Vanessa was still sobbing. "I messed up, Sir Topham Hatt's gonna send me packing." Fred was shocked, he knew Sir Topham Hatt would never do that to anyone, well, he'd do that to Diesel later on in the future, but he would never do that to any of his drivers. "Sir Topham Hatt's firm, yet kind, compassionate, and understanding, He'd understand, and I think you'd need to take a day off, Vanessa, how about tomorrow? You'd need it." He said, Vanessa's sobbing lessened some, but she understood. "I guess my competitive attitude got the better of me, I'm sorry." She said, Fred understood and felt sorry for Vanessa, like him, she was inexperienced, but she could learn a thing or two from him. "We need to make up for lost time, and this time, the express is due to leave now." He said as soon the station master blew his whistle, Sir Topham Hatt then told Thomas that was it was time to take the express. At first, Thomas found it hard to pull, but when he started to move, it became easier to pull the coaches. _I guess Edward was right about pulling trains, I should have listened. I hope the others won't laugh at me._ He thought, as he pulled the express, but he was wrong afterwards that night, James told the other engines, this made Gordon laugh along with him. "I'm glad you came to work on our railway, Thomas, you always give us something to laugh about." Gordon said while laughing, James was still going, but he stopped laughing. "And that's not all, I didn't see Fred on Thomas." He said, all eyes, minus Thomas and Fred, were all on Vanessa, she didn't like the looks everyone was giving her, Gordon started to chuckle. "Oh, I think I now know how it happened." He began, Fred, James, and Edward were shocked, Gordon was going to say it. "Don't you dare, Gordon!" They warned, but he said it anyway. "She must have opened the regulator and set Thomas off without the coaches." He said laughing, Vanessa ran away, this caused every engine to angrily look at him, Fred and the other drivers were cross. "Now you've done it, Gordon, I was trying to help her settle down, but now you've made it worse." Fred said Furiously, Gordon didn't seem to care.

"Well, neither you or her should have come, besides, I don't care about your well being." He said, not not even caring in the slightest, Fred was about to scream, but Gilbert put his hand on the young driver's shoulder. "Go after Vanessa, she needs you more than ever, we'll deal with Gordon." He said sympathetically, Fred calmed down, and left the sheds to find Vanessa. He found her near Crovan's Gate, out of breath and still sobbing. "I'm useless, I can't do a simple job." She said, her eyes red from runny tears, Fred felt even more sorry. "Hey, it wasn't your fault, you didn't know, and besides, I've made stupid mistakes myself, you don't have to be alone, I'll be there for you." He said comforting Vanessa, her sobbing stopped. "Really?" She asked, tears still running her face, Fred smiled. "Yeah." He answered, hugging Vanessa. "I may be out of place, but I care for you, and I won't let anyone say anything bad about you, because I won't let it happen again, I let my guard down, and I let you down, I shouldn't have challenged you and should have known, besides, what happened today was already written in that book, although it doesn't mention that you opened Thomas's regulator, it's true! The book says so, when we get back, I'll read the story to you when we're alone." He then yawned. "But not tonight, I feel tired, searching for you really wore me out, and I couldn't go by engine, so I had to walk on foot." He explained, Vanessa felt better, she tried to think of a way to get back to Tidmouth sheds, but she couldn't. Then to their luck, a mail van pulled up, and out came someone who Fred could barely recognize.

"Oi, what are a lad and lass like you two doing out here in the middle of the night?" He asked with a Scottish accent, almost sounding like George Carlin. "Are you a mailman?" Vanessa asked, the mailman laughed. "Aye, and proud of it! The name's Tom Tipper." He introduced himself, Fred now recognized Tom. "Really? I didn't recognize you at first, but now that I do, can we ask you a favor?" He asked, Tom was more than reluctant to answer. "Aye, I'm done with my routes tonight, and the back's empty as well, don't worry, It's got air conditioning in the back, where do you need to go?" He asked, Vanessa looked full of hope. "Tidmouth sheds, Tom. We need to get there as fast as possible, If we don't make it, both of us will fall asleep on the way back on foot." She explained, Tom wasted no time. "Say no more, lass, I'm afraid that we'll never make it due to traffic at this time of night, but I will try to get you there." He said, getting the two drivers in the back, and started off to Tidmouth sheds.

In the back, the two young drivers, looked happily at each other. "Well, it's not what we were expecting, but we needed a brake from walking back." Fred chuckled, Vanessa giggled. "I guess we did need it, still...thanks for finding me, I really needed the comfort." She said, leaning over to kiss Fred on the cheek. "I know that we aren't dating, but I'd like to start dating later on when we have time." She said, Fred blushed furiously. "Uh...sure, as long it doesn't affect our jobs, I hope we don't get into trouble with Sir Topham Hatt about it." He said, wondering what Sir Topham Hatt would say if he found out.

It wasn't long before they arrived to Tidmoth sheds without any trouble with traffic on the road, the two were tired and thanked Tom for the ride. "No problem, let's not make this a habit, shall we?" He asked smiling, the two drivers smiled, although it was a tired smile. "We won't, I guess we'll see you again." Fred said, yawning, Tom nodded, chuckling. "Aye, you will. And if you get a chance to help out with the post train, that is." He said, Vanessa smiled. "We will one day, right now, we're tired, if you get the chance to see us again, visit on your free time." She said, looking like she was about to fall over and pass out, but she was fighting it, Tom chuckled again, "Sure, I'll be able to remember that." he said, smiling.

He left a few minutes later as Fred and Vanessa plopped down on the bed together, neither caring to take off their clothes, they were just tired, and went to sleep.

Things obviously got better yesterday, but it wouldn't last long, Thomas had gotten into trouble after almost having an accident with the freight cars which got them into trouble with Sir Topham Hatt, then Thomas helped Henry overcome his fear of the rain, the next day had turned into a chase and an accident with James coming off the rails, and after that Thomas had eventually gotten his branch line, it wasn't easy with Thomas on his first few days on the branch line, even after when he met the last Coffeepot engine named Glenn.

A few days later, Thomas was on his first passenger run of the day, he had gotten to the station where James was waiting, Thomas had been daydreaming about going fishing because of watching people fishing by the river. "You know James, I've seen people go fishing by the river, and I was thinking, if people could go fishing, then why can't we? I want to fish." He said, James scoffed. "You know we can't do that. Besides, Thomas, we're not humans, and engines don't go fishing, Sir Topham Hatt would never allow that." He said, knowing that he was right, the drivers agreed with him.

"James is right, Thomas, so stop daydreaming, and please pay attention to the passengers." Fred said not knowing that Thomas was sill daydreaming, but Thomas was chuckling to himself. _Silly stick in the muds, I'll get my chance one day._ He thought as he took the passengers to the next station. Little did Thomas know that he'd get to do so the next day as he was feeling thirsty, the feed pipe to the water tower was blocked and had a sign That said 'out of order'. This made Thomas cross. "Bother, now I'll have to get water from the river." He said furiously, Fred and Vanessa laughed. "Don't worry, Thomas, we'll tell Sir Topham Hatt about that later, right now we'll have to get the water from the river." Fred said, moving the regulator, he was glad there were no passengers on board Annie and Clarabel.

By the time they got Thomas over to the bridge, he was feeling very thirsty. "Oh dear, I'm feeling very thirsty, I really need water." He said, his boiler was running dry. "We'll need a bucket, let's get one from the guard." He said as he and Vanessa went over to Clarable to check with the guard. "Are there any buckets we've got? Any bucket that doesn't have holes?" He asked, hoping to not get the very bucket that had holes. The guard came back with what Fred had dreaded of seeing. It was THE very bucket that he dreaded not to see. "Of all the buckets it had to be, you had to get the worst bucket we've had yet." He said, not even happy with the bucket, Vanessa had never seen Fred so angry at the guard.

Thomas was shocked to see Fred angry as he saw Fred lower the bucket into the river so many times to fill his side tanks, unknown everyone, something had been poured into Thomas's left side tank, eventually, Thomas felt a lot better. "Well, I feel better a lot better now." He said, Fred was still fuming, he still wasn't happy with the bucket. "Well I don't, and I want to get rid of that bucket so badly." He said, then he got an idea, Vanessa looked at him like he just went crazy, in fact, his plan was fool proof.

He smiled the craziest smile and it scared Vanessa. "Please don't tell me you're going to get rid of it." She pleaded, Fred looked like she wasn't seeing the point, the look on Fred's face described it all, it was clear that he hated the bucket with a passion. "You're joking! I hate this bucket, it has seven holes. SEVEN! In fact, I think I know how to get rid of it." He said, tossing the bucket up and kicked it over the river, never to be seen again, or so he thought. "HA HA! SAYANORA, YOU STUPID BUCKET!" He yelled to the top of his lungs before calming down and catching his breath. "Okay, got that out of my system." he breathed, letting out the anger he had for the bucket, Vanessa had enough of Fred's little outburst, clearly scared of his fury against the bucket and how much trouble he went through because of it.

"You scare me sometimes, you know." She said, getting into Thomas's cab. Fred climbed in after her. "Well sorry, I hated that blasted bucket just as much as the next person would. Anyway, let's go. We've got to make up for lost time." He replied opening up the regulator, Thomas was on his way to the next station, Fred and Vanessa were arguing over the bucket, not even paying attention to Thomas's safety valve and pressure gauge, a hissing sound stopped them from arguing, Fred looked at the pressure gauge in horror. "OH YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING!" He shouted, Vanessa held her ears at the hissing noise, Thomas was in pain. "I've got such a pain, I've got such a pain." He moaned, as he was slowly making his way to the station, Fred had uncoupled Annie and Clarabel from Thomas as he was moved to a siding. "First the bucket, and now this, why does the universe hate me?" He asked himself, Vanessa had enough of the hissing noise as she went over to the station, and put signs around Thomas that read 'danger, keep away' written in red. Fred telephoned for an inspector and Sir Topham Hatt.

By now, the hissing noise had gone away since Thomas's fire had been put out. At last, Sir Topham Hatt and the inspector arrived to see what was the matter, the inspector climbed on a ladder to look in the left side of Thomas's tank, he saw it but couldn't tell what it was "Excuse me, sir, but can you look in the side tank? There's something blocking the pipe." He climbed down the ladder. "Why certainly, inspector." Sir Topham Hatt said, climbing up the ladder, and when he saw what was blocking the pipe in Thomas's left side tank, he nearly fell off in surprise. "Inspector, can you see...fish?" He asked, this surprised everyone. "Why goodness me, Fred. How did the fish get there?" He asked as he got off the ladder, Fred looked in thought, then it hit him. "We must have fished them from the river by accident, sir. Even so, I hated every second of it because of a bucket that seven holes in it and I had to get rid of it." Sir Topham Hatt looked back at Thomas, but he was smiling. "Well Thomas, So you have been fishing. Well, Fish don't suit you, and so we must get them out." He said, but that was the problem, nobody thought of how to get the fish out, but Fred had an idea. "Why don't we fish them out? There must be fishing poles in the station." He said, Sir Topham smiled. "Well, that's a good Idea, Fred, why didn't I think of it sooner?" He said, pacing back and forth before heading to the station and came back with several fishing poles.

Soon everyone was hard at work, taking turns fishing out of Thomas's left side tank, it was hard, but the reward was fish and chips for lunch. Sir Topham Hatt turned to Thomas. "Well Thomas, I hope you've learned you learned your lesson, so you mustn't do it again." He said sternly, Thomas sighed. "Yes sir, engines don't go fishing, it makes them uncomfortable." He said, learning his lesson, Sir Topham Hatt turned to Fred and Vanessa. "What caused him to go fishing, you two?" He asked, Fred looked like he was forgetting something until he remembered. "The feed pipe from the water tower, sir, it's blocked, it wouldn't work earlier, and I think by now that it's still out of order." He said, Sir Topham Hatt looked in thought before looking at Vanessa. "Is this true?" He asked, Vanessa was twiddling her thumbs. "Well...Yes, it's true, sir." She said, confirming what Fred had said.

"Thank you for bringing this information to me, you two, I'll be sending workmen to repair the water tower first thing tomorrow morning." Sir Topham Hatt said, Fred and Vanessa climbed back into Thomas's cab. "Now what say we make up for lost time and head home?" Fred asked, both Thomas and Vanessa agreed.

Later that night, Thomas told the other engines about what happened, and they laughed, and so did the rest of the drivers, Fred looked embarrassed, though he didn't lash out at anyone for doing so. "Alright, laugh it up, we've got a busy day for tomorrow. I hear that there's going to be a circus coming here next year, so all of you be on your best behavior, that means you too, Gordon. And I hear James did well with his goods train and the express, didn't he, Gilbert?" He asked while informing everyone, Gilbert chuckled. "Well, James wasn't ready at first, we had a few mishaps, but he did well. And considering his progress, I think he'll do it. Sir Topham Hatt would pick him to do so." He said, Fred smiled, he knew Gordon would be outrageously jealous, He knew Henry would be even less jealous than Gordon, but he'd understand, Thomas and Edward weren't jealous, They were happy that James would get to pull the circus train in the coming weeks and the year ended with a stubborn Thomas being stuck in the snow, where a tractor named Terrance rescued him and a bus named Bertie took his passengers home, although he made good friends with both the tractor and the bus.

The first month of the year arrived, at first James was reluctant, but he soon started to grumble, and so did Gordon, Henry was trying his best, but the coaches laughed at them all, "You're lazy and slack." They laughed, Fred was on Henry, he felt even more bad for the big green engine. "Just don't pay any attention to them Henry, I understand how you feel." He said, Henry smiled sadly, he knew Fred was right, but he still felt upset and hurt from the coaches laughing at him, James saw this and stopped grumbling, he felt sorry for his friend, Vanessa saw Henry's face and now understood why. _Maybe Fred was right, Henry does need Welsh coal, I just hope we can get a chance to tell Sir Topham Hatt about it._ She thought as she and James took their coaches to platform three.

Gordon didn't like being laughed at, especially by the coaches, he wanted to bump them, but that would get him into trouble and cause an accident, and he knew exactly that as he pulled into platform one. Gilbert was on him, he suddenly noticed that Gordon was silent. "Are you alright, Gordon? You've awfully quiet since we got to platform one." He said, worried, Gordon finally let out a sigh. "I just can't help it, I don't like being laughed at, and I don't think I'll ever get used to it." He said, Gilbert understood, but he knew he had to be strict yet firm like Sir Topham Hatt. "Well, if you were a hard worker like Edward, you would have a different time pulling freight cars and coaches without fuss." He said, Gordon scoffed. "I'll have you know I'm a very..." He was interrupted by his driver. "Important engine, I've heard it before, and I'm not letting you get away with that excuse, Gordon." He said, Gordon started stammering. "But...but..." He stammered, but Gilbert Perkins wouldn't have any of it. "Don't you dare finish that sentence, Gordon, We're going to be late." He said, the stationmaster blew his whistle and Gordon started off.

Fred saw this and laughed, and so did Vanessa and James. "I didn't think Gilbert was like Sir Topham Hatt, well now I see why." Fred laughed, he heard the stationmaster's whistle go off and Henry had started off with his train. James and Vanessa calmed down, it was their turn, and as soon as the whistle blew, they set off with their train.

The second week had come, Gordon and Thomas were chatting, but Gordon was being his usual self, and he left the station, he later went to Tidmouth sheds to reverse on the turntable, but there was a problem, the wind was blowing hard, and the turntable was stuck because of Gordon's tender, he tried to turn around three times, but it was no good. "It's no good, Gordon, your tender upsets the balance, now you'll have to take the express backwards like a tank engine." Mr. Arkwright said, Gordon didn't like that at all, a few minutes later, Gordon had brought the express into the station where some boys mistook him for a tank engine. "Cool, it's a new tank engine." the first boy said, but the second boy saw right through the steam and smoke. "Oh, it's only Gordon back to front." He said.

Every passenger laughed, and so did Fred, Thomas, Annie and Clarabel. "Hello Gordon, playing tank engines are we? Take my advice, scrap your tender and have a nice bunker." Thomas said, Gordon was about to say something when James went by laughing. "Oh this is rich, Gordon's playing tank engine!" He laughed, Gordon thought otherwise. "Don't be silly, James, you might stick, too." He warned, but James laughed again. "have no worries, I'm not as big as you!" He called, he soon arrived onto the turntable at Tidmouth sheds moments later, Gordon's warning had been stuck in his smokebox for hours, he began to worry as he went onto the turntable. _I mustn't stick._ He thought, the turntable could now swing easily.

Gordon arrived just in time to see everything, James had was spinning faster and faster until the wind stopped, the turntable slowed down until it slowed to a halt, James felt dizzy, Gordon Chuckled. "Well, well, are we playing roundabouts? Take my advice, stay off the turntable when it's windy." He teased in the same tone Thomas teased him with, Mr. Arkwright laughed. "Oh, the others are gonna want to hear this." he said, later on at the Sodor cafe, Fred and the others laughed at what he told them.

"Oh boy, I knew this would happen, but I can help but laugh every time when I think about it." Fred laughed, Vanessa giggled, Gilbert hooted in laughter. "Fancy that, James The Red Engine becomes James The Red Top!" Everyone laughed at James's new nickname, James himself wasn't there to hear it, and he was glad he wasn't, but word of his nickname soon spread afterwards.

The day of the circus arrived, James was happy to take it, Gordon's reaction was what Fred predicted, he was outrageously jealous, when it came time for the circus to end, James had forgotten that an elephant had broken out and was in Henry's Tunnel, Henry brought the workmen, although they thought the elephant was a monster, the foreman recognized the elephant as it pushed Henry out of the tunnel, they gave the elephant a bucket of water, Henry accidentally let off steam, and the startled elephant sprayed Henry. Poor Henry.

That night, Gordon, Henry and James held an indignation meeting, Fred had hidden himself along with Vanessa so that they could hear every word the three tender engines were saying, and Fred's suspicion had become a reality, the three tender engines were planning to go on strike, and while the engines were discussing their plan, they didn't know that Fred and Vanessa had slipped away without being heard.

The next morning at Knapford station, the passengers were gathering up at the ticket window, Fred and Vanessa had arrived to avoid the angry passengers and went into Sir Topham Hatt's office, he was at his desk receiving calls, he didn't know what to do. He noticed the two drivers. "Thank goodness you two are here, do you know what's going on?" He asked, feeling exhausted, Fred looked at Sir Topham Hatt with sympathy. "As a matter of fact, we do. Henry, James, and Gordon are in the sheds because they planned to go on strike, it was happening last night because we overheard them discussing their plan." He explained, Vanessa nodded. "It's true sir, we hid on the outside the walls on Tidmouth shed to listen in on their plan." She explained, Sir Topham Hatt looked in thought, then he thought of a plan to teach the silly tender engines a lesson, but he thought of Thomas as he looked in the yard. _The yard's never been the same since Thomas left._ He thought sadly, then he looked at the two young drivers.

"Get Edward, he'll need a change of scenery, and by change, I mean get him to shunt the coaches since he doesn't fuss about it, and please tell him about the situation, I'll go over to the mainland to buy another engine tomorrow." He said, Fred nodded, Vanessa followed him out the door, and they went to Edward who was shunting some freight cars. "Hey Edward, Sir Topham Hatt needs you to shunt coaches for a while, Henry, Gordon, and James are in the sheds because they're on strike." Fred informed, Edward sighed he knew this was coming. "It was bound to be inevitable, but I'll help anyway, those three need to learn anyway." He said, reluctantly going to work, Fred knew Edward better than anybody.

Over in the sheds, while Gordon and James were going along with their plan, Henry started to have second thoughts. _I should have never listened to Gordon, I know we'll get into trouble, I just know it._ He thought as Gordon looked at him. "Don't worry, our plan will work, trust me." He said, thinking his plan will work, Henry stayed quiet, knowing that Gordon's plan will eventually fall apart, he saw Sir Topham Hatt walking over to the three tender engines. "Come on Henry, it's time to take you train." He said, Henry was about to reply, but Gordon interrupted him. "Henry's not going, and neither are we, we won't shunt, that's a job for tank engines like Thomas, and as I've said before, tender engines don't shunt." He said rudely, Sir Topham Hatt looked he was smiling. "Oh? Then why is Edward shunting your coaches to your platforms?" He asked, pointing to Knapford station where Edward was indeed shunting coaches, Gordon and James stared in disbelief, Henry seemed relieved. "That is proof of why tender engines DO shunt, this my railway and you will do as you are told, Gordon." Sir Topham Hatt Continued, he looked at James next. "And all of this trouble because you were called a top? I gave you your red paint to help cheer you up after your accident, not to make you conceited, a joke is just a joke, it's not meant to last forever." He said sternly, James then regretted going along with Gordon's plan.

Sir Topham Hatt then turned to Henry, and before he could say anything, Henry went first. "If I may sir, I wasn't fully on board with Gordon's plan." This surprised Sir Topham Hatt, and shocked both Gordon and James. "Really? Then would you care to tell me about why you weren't fully on board with Gordon's plan?" He asked, Henry was reluctant to explain. "Well, Gordon convinced me that he'd help me after I got sprayed by the elephant, but all he did was sit around and do nothing, then I thought of what I was doing and immediately regretted going along with his plan." He said, Sir Topham Hatt thought for a moment, Henry did give him a good explanation, and he had a good reason to, at last his mind was made up. "Well Henry, I admit you did have a good reason to explain, but you still caused trouble, however, your punishment will not be as bad as you think, while spending time in the shed, you will be watching over these two after you take your trains."He explained, Henry sighed, knowing that his punishment was a lot less harsh than the one that had him bricked up in Henry's Tunnel, he was lucky to not be bricked up again. "Yes sir, I don't mind being dirty for a while, but I'll take my train." He said as he left the sheds, James followed suit, Gordon was last, he grumbled to himself as he left the sheds, Sir Topham Hatt smiled, knowing Henry would see things through, but he knew Gordon would stand by that nonsense, no mater what he said.

Trains ran late, but at least the passengers stopped complaining, Henry was paired with Vanessa as he took his passenger train, the punishment and what he said were still fresh in his mind as he began the conversation. "Vanessa, I regret what I was doing today, and I was thinking about what I said earlier." He said, Vanessa looked in interest. "Oh? What makes you say that?" She said, curiosity stirring her interest, Henry continued. "Last night when Gordon was talking about the strike, I was interested at first when we started going with it at first, but then I realized that we were making people mad and we would get into trouble, fortunately, I gave my reason as to why I stopped following Gordon's plan, and I explained it to Sir Topham Hatt that I'd gladly take my punishment." He finished. Vanessa was shocked, she never heard Henry say that he'd gladly take punishment, Fred was going to have a field day with what she was going to tell him.

James and Fred were taking a goods train and Fred decided to not make fun of James. "So, have you learned your lesson?" He asked, James sighed in defeat. "Yes, I shouldn't have listened to Gordon." He said, Fred was happy to hear that, James then thought of Fred's question, then he thought back to when he was called a top. "Did you call me a top?" He asked, Fred looked puzzled. "Why would you ask that?" He asked, then it dawned on him. "OH, I remember, Mr. Arkwright told me about what happened. Look, I only meant it to be as a joke, and let me tell you, I got tired of that joke, no matter how funny it was, the book had that written in as well, as for how that happened, I didn't think I didn't think that I would be the cause of of your punishment." He said, James thought back, as far as he knew, Fred, Thomas, Edward, and Henry had been supportive of him weeks ago, and he caused his own record to go down in smoke today because of Gordon's plan to go on strike, and as long as he knew it, the big blue engine would never let him hear the end of it. "I understand, and I think I understand why I let myself get into trouble today, it was because of Gordon, he dragged me into this mess." He explained, Fred nodded. "Understand something, James, Sir Topham Hatt cares for his engines, even if he has to be stern, yet firm with you, he knows that it wasn't your fault, but you have to take the punishment anyway, you have to be an independent engine, not vain or snooty, I'm trying to help you become really useful, and the railway is more important than you are, that's why Sir Topham Hatt is trying run this railway, he's doing the best he can to keep it running." Fred explained, James knew that Fred was telling the truth. He thought about paying Gordon back for that stunt.

The next morning, Edward looked tired when Gordon came by and wheeshed at him rudely, Sir Topham Hatt was surprised, as well as Fred and Vanessa. "Goodness gracious me! What was that all about, Edward?" He asked, Edward looked upset. "Gordon says that I have gray wheels, and he offended James as well as Henry, saying that we're a disgrace, we're not a disgrace, are we, sir?" He asked, Sir Topham Hatt laughed. "Of course not, Edward, you're a really useful engine to me." He replied, Fred nodded in agreement. "Yes, but something must be done." He said, James rolled up beside Edward. "I think it's time to put Gordon in his place, we need another engine to help us out, sir." He suggested, Sir Topham Hatt looked in thought, he knew James was right. "That we do, I'll go to the mainland to buy an engine, another tank engine is what we need." He said, Edward smiled at James for his suggestion. "Thank you James, we need an idea like that, you're really useful." He said, James looked a bit upset, but he knew that Fred was right, the railway was more important than he was, but he still wanted to pay Gordon back.

A while later, the new engine arrived, he was small, but that didn't matter to Sir Topham Hatt, he didn't regret his decision at all, the new engine was called Percy, he made friends with Edward, Thomas, Henry and James, along with Fred and Vanessa, especially since Vanessa was going to be driving him for the remainder of the week, Edward, and Thomas worked pulling trains back and forth on the mainline for several days, Henry and James were let out eventually, but Gordon was still in the sheds, he felt really silly for his actions, he stayed there for weeks, until Sir Topham Hatt came to see him. "I see that you're sorry, Gordon, now listen carefully, we have a new tank engine called Percy, and Edward and Thomas have worked the Mainline nicely, I will allow you to work as long as you treat the other engines nicely." He said, Gordon looked at Sir Topham Hatt with sad smile. "Yes sir." He said, Sir Topham Hatt smiled. "That's a good engine, but please remember that this 'no shunting' nonsense must stop." He said, Gordon soon went off, there he found his coaches waiting, but they had to be shunted to Platform One, he knew that he had to do it, otherwise he didn't want to make a mistake again, then he saw Percy, he was painted like Henry, The little green engine looked at him, he had never met Gordon before. "Hello, I'm Percy, are you new here as well?" He asked, Gordon remembered the first time he met Thomas, he wasn't going to do the same mistake he did several weeks ago, finally he spoke. "No I've been here for a year, so I have been here longer than you have." He answered honestly, Percy smiled. "Well, can you tell me your name? I'd like to get to know you." He asked, Gordon looked in though for a moment, he knew he shouldn't lie about what he did, but he had to tell the little engine. "My name is Gordon, I'm not sure if you would like to hear about what I've done these last few weeks, but I must treat you nicely, it's what Sir Topham Hatt wants me to do." He said, Percy didn't know what Gordon meant, but he knew that Gordon got into trouble at some point.

"How much trouble did you get into?" He asked, Gordon looked at the little engine in regret. "More like how much trouble I caused, I caused trouble when Thomas first arrived here by dragging him along with the express while making Fred lost his lunch, I caused Vanessa to run away after I insulted her, then there was that horrible plan I went with, and it left me shut up in the shed for weeks, since then, I've learned my lesson, and I've been thinking about starting over." He said, Percy felt sorry for the big blue engine. "I wish you didn't have to go through all that." He said, Gordon, chuckled. "I know, but I had to, I needed to be taught a lesson, I guess my ego was too big, and I needed to be brought down to Earth, oh, don't worry, it's just an expression. Anyway, I have to accept the facts that I've got to shunt my own coaches. After all, tender engines do shunt." He said, as he shunted his coaches, Percy felt sorry for him.

After he shunted some freight cars into a siding, he went over to a signal box, he was warned by Edward to be careful and whistle to the signalman to let him know that he was there, but he forgot to whistle as the points were still against him, suddenly he saw Gordon rushing towards him, Vanessa jumped out Percy's cab, not wanting to be involved in an accident. "WATCH OUT!" Gordon cried out as he was nearing Percy, Fred was on him as well, and immediately put on the brakes before he stopped a few inches from Percy's buffers, Percy opened his eyes, he felt scared, he felt his wheels moving, at first, he wasn't going anywhere, but then he shot off like a rocket, he felt scared, without a driver, his brakes couldn't be put on. "HELP!" He cried, Vanessa ran into the signal box to tell the signalman to warn the next one of Percy's runaway situation.

Percy went up Gordon's hill without stopping, he went straight around the bend, he almost derailed, he was feeling tired, but his wheels wouldn't let him stop, he was almost out of water and his axles ached, he was slowing down just enough to reach the next signal box as Signalman kindly switched the points, Percy went onto a siding, and stopped in a bank of earth. "I stopped, thank Goodness." He said, workmen soon arrived gave him some coal and water, moments later, Gordon looked relieved when he arrived, he had been worried. "There you are Percy, I thought you were gong to have an accident." He said, Percy looked silly. "I know, I should have listened to Edward's warning." He said, Gordon felt sorry for the little green engine, he knew that Edward was trying to help, but in the end, Percy learned his lesson. "Percy, I know what it's like to be forgetful at times, and that caused me to become arrogant, and my smoke box was filled with too much pride, I hope you take care in future lessons, you have to be to be careful on the mainline, Sir Topham Hatt depends on all of us to do our jobs and keep the railway running." He said, Percy understood, but he couldn't move. "I'm stuck." He said, Gordon chuckled. "I know, that's why I'm going to get you out and take you to the Steam Works, You'll be back in working order soon." He said, Fred nodded. "Same here, you know Percy, I'll read you a story when you get back." He said, Percy smiled. "Really?" He asked, Fred smiled, he knew Percy could keep it a secret.

That night, Tidmouth sheds had been quiet, nobody spoke to Gordon, Sir Topham Hatt arrived, Gordon figured that Sir Topham Hatt would be cross with him, but Sir Topham Hatt wasn't, he was smiling. "Well, Gordon, I've all about it, and I am proud of you, Vanessa and Fred." He said, the other engines were confused. "You prevented a nasty accident from happening and rescued Percy from being a runaway, and for that, I am proud of your actions." He said, the other engines were shocked, Gordon never got so much as a praise from Sir Topham Hatt. "Thank you sir, but it wasn't really my idea, I had help." He admitted, Sir Topham Hatt smiled. "Well, you're honest, I like that in an engine." He said, Liking what Gordon had become, the other engines were silent, except Thomas. "Excuse me sir, Where's Percy?" He asked, Sir Topham Hatt turned to him. "Percy is at the Steam Works after his near collision with Gordon, We're still trying to figure out what caused him to shoot off like a rocket." He explained, Vanessa remembered, Percy's brakes were not screwed on tight enough and she knew it. "Sir, Percy's brakes were loose, that's what caused him to go off like that, I'm glad he didn't end up like James." She said, but that made her wince, James shuddered at the memory. "I'm still trying to get that memory out of my smoke box." He said, not very fond of the memory, Vanessa looked sheepish. "Sorry." She apologized, James mentally shrugged off the memory and looked at her. "It's fine, I'm still trying to forget it, but it's like a nightmare that won't go away." He said, looking like he had seen a ghost.

"Don't worry James, we're here by your side, it's going to be alright, it's just a bad memory." Henry said, comforting James, Nobody had ever seen Henry act like that before, he acted like a father to James, although they weren't related, they were still friends. Sir Topham Hatt smiled as he watched the display, thinking that each of his engines will become like a family one day. _Perhaps I was right to buy Percy, that one accident may have caused something good to come out of this, and as soon as Percy's out of the Steam Works, I'll send him to work on Thomas's branch line in the future, but for now, he'll have to stay as a station pilot._ He thought as he looked on.

* * *

 **Fred: Wow, so that's how I disappeared?**

 **Me yeah, I decided to show what happened, since this really isn't a crossover story.**

 **Fred: Alright, but what about your other Thomas stories?**

 **Me: Well, the Thomas And Friends/Ranma 1/2 crossover is still on hold, but Edward And The New Engines is officially canceled as of now, that series was a warm up to something like this, but I'm not abandoning the former.**

 **Fred: Oh.**

 **And another thing, more original characters are on the way, but for now, it's only you and Vanessa right now.**

 **Fred: Oh, I see.**

 **Me: the second chapter is on it's way, so in a way, I might get to work on it more.**

 **Fred: Read and Review, folks, let Prowl know what you think and what you want to see.**


	2. Chapter Two

**Me: Hey guys, Prowl here, I've recently finished the chapter, and I've got a while before Halloween, my birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas come, I could really use a break right about now.**

 **Fred: I hear that, besides, it's gonna be a while before you come back, right?**

 **Me: Yeah. I'm betting the others from other stories will want to to join in to read?**

 **Fred: Yeah, besides everyone's getting restless to hear from you.**

 **Me: Alright, but it better not be crowded.**

 **Fred: Sorry, but it ain't my decision *Turns to everyone offscreen* Come on in, guys**

 **Me: *Manages to avoid being stepped on and run over* Well, at least I managed to avoid having been stepped on and run over. Now with that out of the way, let's start the chapter. Oh, and Asperman1, I'm still considering your offer, it sounds VERY tempting, at least give me time before I can come to a decision.**

* * *

One morning, Henry wasn't feeling well, his fire wasn't giving enough heat, Fred and Vanessa were trying to help the poor engine. "I knew this would happen eventually, we've got to tell Sir Topham Hatt about this." Fred said as he finally got Henry's fire going, but it wasn't burning properly, Vanessa saw it. "Well, you were right, Henry needs to have that welsh coal, but we need it now rather than later." She said, Fred nodded. "I know, I've known about this problem ever since I first got here, shortly before you did, if you remember correctly, Vanessa, that was about a year ago." He explained, Vanessa remembered the crazy things that happened over the previous year, she was glad it was over, and secretly, Fred was also glad to see it go by so quickly, he had enough of the crazy things that happened to him, mostly because it was mostly directed at him.

Fred was trying to keep Henry's fire from going out, he let out a sigh. "And I hope we get this sorted out soon, or Henry'll be scrapped, and I don't want that to happen." He said, his voice cracking, Vanessa hugged him, she knew that Fred didn't want anything to happen to Henry or any of the other engines, he sobbed, Henry could understand Fred, then he felt even worse for the driver, he let out a sigh. "Nobody understands the pain and suffering I go through, except for Fred, he knows what I go through." He said to himself, but he was loud enough to be heard by James. "Rubbish, Henry. What you need is exercise." He said, Henry didn't know that James was only joking, Gordon looked from Knapford station, he felt sorry for the green engine.

Henry got ready for his train, Sir Topham Hatt was on it as well, Henry tried hard, but it was no good, there wasn't enough steam, Henry felt awful by the time he reached a station, the passengers got out, they weren't happy, but they weren't mad, after they had seen how sad Thomas was the previous year before, they decided not make such a fuss about it, Sir Topham Hatt had ordered new parts before, but it still wasn't working, the results were the same as they were before. "I can't understand it, Henry, We've given you lots of new parts, but they don't seem to be helping." He turned to Vanessa and Fred, both looked like their chance had come. "What do you two think is the matter with Henry?" He asked, Vanessa was ready to answer that question. "Well sir, Henry's been a poor steamer lately, and we've had a poor batch of coal, lately. Now the other engines can handle normal coal because they have normal fire boxes, but Henry's is smaller, and he can't burn the regular coal properly, our only option is to use Welsh coal." She explained, Sir Topham Hatt looked in thought, he knew Welsh coal was expensive, but it was Henry's last chance, and he knew Henry needed the coal, and fast. "It's expensive, but it might just work." He said, he arranged for Edward to take the train as Henry backed on to a siding, Edward smiled as he looked at the big green engine in sympathy. "I know you feel bad, Henry, but all good things come to those who wait. The Welsh coal will come, but it will be a few days before you'll feel better." And the blue tender engine was right, the Welsh coal had come, but not only did it come, a man had come to Sodor to meet with Sir Topham Hatt, the two were in Sir Topham Hatt's office at Knapford station.

"Well, Sir Topham, I am a busy, but respectable man. I will lend you my coal for your engine, provided that the coal will be efficient enough to help Henry, was it? I love steam engines, but my wife and daughter don't have the same drive as I do. My wife owns a scrapyard full of automobiles, thankfully it's not full of scrapped steam engines, that would never do, while my wife does share my love for steam engines, my daughter does not. However, I will help you with the problem and I intend to help you solve it." The man said, Sir Topham Hatt nodded, he knew that this man was noble, humble, and honest, but there was something off about his voice, while it did sound happy and joyful, there was a hint of sadness in his voice, it was almost as if he wasn't happy about something, and Sir topham Hatt was concerned. "I see. Can you tell me about your daughter? It seems that she isn't what she seems." He said, the man nodded in agreement. "I know, she hates steam engines, I love her and all, but she won't change her mind, I'm afraid she's going down a dark path, one which she won't stray from." the man said with a solemn tone, Sir Topham Hatt knew that the man was really upset, and he would allow someone like the man to live on Sodor if he would look at it from his point of view. "Well, I'll make sure that steam will be preserved here, I believe that I might interest you in staying here if you want to." He offered, the man smiled. "I'll think about it, while your offer sounds nice, I do have a company to run, provided that my daughter doesn't do something rash and unforgiving to ruin it, you also have a railway to run, so to speak." He said, Sir Topham Hatt nodded in agreement, the two shook hands. "I'll make sure that I will put your coal to good use, Mr. Welsh." Sir Topham Hatt nodded, the man laughed. "Just call me Harrison or Harry when we're not busy." He said, Sir Topham Hatt nodded, he knew that this was the start of a grand partnership.

An hour later, the two men were at the platform among the passengers, as they had boarded the coaches with little problem, Henry was soon feeling like himself again as he backed up to the coaches, but Fred and Vanessa knew that they wanted restrain Henry after being told to hold the engine back, they carefully stoked his fire, Henry didn't like that. "You're spoiling my fire!" He complained, Fred laughed, he knew this was what was supposed to happen. "Don't worry, Henry, you'll be fine, you might just might break Gordon's record if you wait patiently." He said, Henry felt better as the stationmaster blew his whistle, and Henry steamed off perfectly as he puffed out of the station, he was making good time as he rolled across the countryside, he reached the next station where Thomas was waiting, Henry was feeling good enough to make a joke, he left, but Thomas wasn't upset, he was happy that Henry was himself again, as Henry finished his journey, He felt tired but he was glad to be back in full steam again, word soon got out of his first train in days, James felt happy for the big green engine, Gordon felt a bit jealous, he hid it well, but he was happy that Henry was back in steam again.

One early morning a few days later, Henry was woken up by Fred and Vanessa, Fred was smiling. "Wake up Henry, Sir Topham Hatt's given us a job, we're to pull the Flying Kipper, and if we do well enough, we might get to pull the express." He whispered, then he took a quick look at Gordon who was still asleep, he then turned back to Henry. "Don't tell, Gordon, he'll get jealous again, I think Gilbert noticed Gordon's jealousy coming back." He continued whispering, he looked to Vanessa and started to whisper to her as well. "Let's hope Gordon's jealousy isn't going to be like last time." He whispered, Vanessa giggled quietly. "I think he'll get what's coming to him later, besides, let's hope we do well." She whispered back, the two friends got in Henry's cab and slowly, but quietly left, they soon reached the harbor, box cars were filled with fish that were needed to be taken the mainland, Henry was getting impatient, soon a whistle was heard, and Henry set off with little difficulty.

The trio were making good time, but they were heading for trouble, they didn't know that ice had frozen the signal to where it was pointing down, they didn't see a yellow flag planted in the snow either, Fred obviously forgot that this was where Henry was going to have an accident, and truth to be told, up ahead, another train was in front of them, the crew enjoying a nice drink of cocoa, but it didn't last long as Henry was coming in too close, Fred tried to apply the brakes but it was no good, he and Vanessa jumped clear in time, the crew from the other train was launched out due to Henry crashing into the break van and completely destroyed it all together.

Fred and Vanessa were horrified as they ran over to Henry to see if he was hurt. "Henry! Are you alright?" Fred asked, Henry groaned, he didn't look so good. "Not really. I think my boiler's damaged, and my firebox is destroyed." He moaned, the crew from the train went over, the fireman didn't look happy. "You ruined my cocoa! And you also my uniform!" He shouted, Vanessa looked furious. "Forget your stupid cocoa and uniform! What was supposed to be a safe journey turned into an accident!" She said, fury almost overtook her until Fred calmed her down, the driver from the other train came over to apologize. "Forgive my friend's rude behavior, we didn't mean to be on the same line as you, we should have checked to see if there was a goods train coming through this line." He said, Fred understood, the driver was humble, and he had good manners, and he was apologetic as well, he understood where the driver was coming from. "You're forgiven. So, what's this freight train doing here in the middle of the line?" He asked, the driver looked at the rest of the train then he looked back at Fred and began to explain. "Well, we were supposed to move along, but we were stopped by something that shouldn't have happened, the blasted cocoa got in our way and we should have checked for incoming trains, what's the train you were taking?" He asked, Fred looked to the fish that were spilled all over the place. "Well, we were taking the Flying Kipper, but you know how that turned out." He explained, the driver nodded. "That's understandable, all of this could have been avoided if we weren't so distracted." He said, Vanessa nodded in agreement.

Sir Topham Hatt arrived with Mr. Welsh, they came to see the damage, they felt sorry for Henry. "Cheer up Henry, it wasn't your fault, Ice and snow caused the accident." Sir Topham Topham Hatt said, Henry did feel a bit better, but he still felt miserable. "I'm not going to be scrapped, am I, sir?" he asked, Mr. Welsh laughed heartily. "Sir Topham is going to send you to Crewe, a fine place for sick engines, besides, you'll have a new shape while you'll be there, but it'll be a few months before you get back to Sodor." He explained, Sir Topham Hatt nodded in agreement. "That's right, you'll feel better after you have your rebuild, you'll have a new firebox as well." He replied, Henry looked confused. "But what about the Welsh coal?" He asked, Harrison chuckled. "Well ironically, the company ran out of the coal, but I don't think we'll need it now that you will be sent to Crewe." He said, then Sir Topham Hatt looked at Fred and Vanessa, he smiled. "I know you weren't responsible, but I want you two to be careful in the future, and due to Henry's accident, I will give you a week off. No more than a week, you hear?" He asked, Vanessa smiled, Fred grinned, they were given a chance to take the week off, he kept himself under control. "Thank you, sir, I promise that we'll spend the week off without having any trouble." He said, Vanessa squealed in delight quietly, but her happy mood soon vanished. "But sir, who'll be looking after the goods work?" She asked, Sir Topham Hatt laughed. "I think Edward and James will share the work, I know Edward wouldn't mind, but I'm not sure about James." He said, wondering what James's reaction would be.

Fred laughed, knowing how James would react, but the real question was how Gordon would react to all of this, he let the question go for now, but then he wondered how they were going to get back, without an engine, they would be stuck. "Um, excuse me sir, but how are we going to get back? I know that Edward left, but who'll take us back?"He asked, Sir Topham Hatt never got a chance to answer when the driver from the other train came up. "Oh don't worry, We'll take you back, our train got delayed due to the accident, so we'll take you back." He said, leading them to a familiar Pannier tank engine, but there was something different, he had dark green paint and his number was different, but he was still recognizable. "Hello, sorry about the mess, but is there something I can do for you?" He asked, Fred nodded. "Yes, actually. We need to get back home, we don't want to catch hypothermia while standing out here." He explained, the Pannier tank engine understood. "Oh no, that would never do. Climb on." He said, it wasn't an order, it was out of kindness, Fred didn't need to be told twice, Vanessa followed, and Sir Topham Hatt as well as Mr. Welsh after the driver got in, the Pannier tank engine was uncoupled from the freight train, as he went around where Henry was, the Pannier tank engine stopped for a moment, he felt sorry for the big green tender engine. "I hope you get better, you look like you need it." He said, all Henry could do was smile, that was all he needed to hear.

That afternoon, Fred and Vanessa were in the cafe as they were warming up from being outside for so long, Gilbert came up to see them. "Hello you two, what are you doing here?" He asked, Fred turned to see him. "Oh, uh...Henry had an accident and...well, Sir Topham Hatt gave us a week off, we needed it, and now we're out of Welsh coal. Ironically, Mr. Welsh isn't upset about it, he seemed happy, too." He explained, Gilbert nodded, then he thought about Gordon, he knew that the big blue engine would be jealous if Henry came back from crew with a new shape, it would take months for Henry to get it. And it did happen eventually, he came back a few months later, people gathered to see his return, and I'm sorry to say that a few certain boys were late to school. Henry pulled the express so well that Gordon was once again back to what he was before, except this time, he wasn't going make the same mistake again, or so he thought.

The morning after Henry had pulled the express, Gordon was cross, he began to complain. "Why should Henry have a new shape? A shape good enough for me is good enough for him. He goes gallivanting off to Crewe and comes back saying how happy he feels about his new shape, it's disgraceful!" He grumbled, the engines gasped around him, they hadn't heard him say something like that since last year, and he continued. "And there's another thing, Henry whistles too much. No respectable engine ever whistles loudly at stations. It isn't wrong, but we just don't do it." He finished, poor Henry didn't look happy anymore, Fred and Percy felt sorry for him. "Never mind about Gordon, Henry. We're glad you're back, all of us are, and I like your whistling." Percy said cheerfully, Fred nodded in agreement. "Yeah, like Percy said, never mind about Gordon, he's just jealous that you got to pull the express yesterday. Although, I have a feeling he's going to have a jammed whistle, and I suddenly have the urge to use ear plugs if Gordon's whistle get's jammed all of a sudden." He said, he came prepared, having two sets of earplugs, one set for him, and the other set for Vanessa. "Just in case." He said, handing the second set for Vanessa, she looked at him in confusion, but she accepted the ear plugs without question.

"Let's see, who's taking Gordon?" Fred wondered out loud, looking at the schedule, he saw that Gilbert was the unfortunate victim for Gordon's jammed whistle, but he waited to say it after Gilbert and Gordon were out of hearing range. "Goodbye Henry. We're glad to have you with us, but remember what I said." Gordon ordered as he left for the coaches, Fred now had the opportunity to speak. "I feel bad for Gilbert, the passengers, and Sir Topham Hatt, their ears are gonna be ringin' throughout the day." He said, Nobody questioned how he knew what was going to happen, Fred looked at the schedule again, he was to be paired with Edward, and Vanessa was paired up with Henry, Mr. Hawkins was paired with Thomas, the other drivers were paired with James and Percy, everyone went off to do their jobs as the day began.

Fred and Edward were waiting as Henry pulled in with the express. "Well, We're here." Vanessa announced as she headed over to Edward's cab to meet up with Fred. "Well, so far nothing's happened yet." She said, but Fred knew otherwise. "Don't be too sure, trouble's just around the corner." He replied, hearing Gordon's jammed whistle in the distance, Fred knew this was coming, he pulled out his ear plugs and inserted them into his ears, Vanessa was dumbfounded, but put her ear plugs in as well, Henry could hear the whistle. "Do you hear that?" He asked, Edward chuckled. "It sounds like Gordon, and it ought to be Gordon, but Gordon never whistled like that." He said, it was Gordon, he came rushing down the hill at a tremendous rate, he didn't look at Henry, and he didn't look at Edward, he screamed as he rushed through the station, there was no sign of him as he left, Fred and Vanessa took out their ear plugs as they could hear properly again, Edward laughed. "Well." He said, Henry also laughed. "It isn't wrong, but we just don't do it." He said, mocking Gordon, Fred and Vanessa laughed. "Maybe next time Gordon ought to keep his big mouth shut, because what goes around comes around." Fred said chuckling, Vanessa hooted in laughter. "Oh god, I do feel sorry for Perkins though. I have a feeling that he'll be deaf for the rest of the day." She said, Fred nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's why I waited to say it after he left with Gordon." He said,looking at the schedule again. "Some moron put him with Gordon when he was supposed to go the Steam Works to get his whistle fixed. Ah well, Gordon will get there soon." And he was right, by the time Gordon got to the station, he was uncoupled from the coaches and was sent to the Steam Works for his jammed whistle to be knocked back into place.

That night, Gordon had returned to Tidmouth sheds, unfortunately for him, everyone heard from Edward and Henry about what had happened, they laughed. "It isn't wrong, but we just don't do it." A voice said to no one in particular, Gordon thought it belonged to Henry.

The next day Henry felt happy as he was taking the express, Fred and Vanessa were on him, Henry whistled happily. "I feel so well, I feel so well!" He said, Fred laughed, he enjoyed the long run, then he spotted three familiar boys. _Uh-oh, here comes trouble._ He thought, Henry whistled hello, but his friendly greeting was met with the boys throwing stones at Henry and the coaches, one hit Fred in the head, he let out a scream that put Sylvester The Cat to shame, the rest of the stones hit the coaches as their glass windows were broken. The Passengers got out, they were cross. "Call the police!" One of the passengers said furiously, Vanessa had a different idea. "Can you keep a secret?" She asked, the Passengers nodded as she began to Explain. "I've got a plan, think of it as payback to those boys, Henry's going to sneeze at them, there'll be plenty of ash by the time we reach the station, and once we come across those boys, we'll give 'em a lesson they'll never forget." She explained, the passengers were satisfied with Vanessa's plan, and by the time when they got to the next station, Henry was about to sneeze, but he held back so much, he couldn't say anything because he'd sneeze, the stationmaster walked up to Vanessa as she wrapped bandages around Fred's forehead, she saw the stationmaster as she walked out of the cab and met with him. "What's going on? And why is Henry looking like he's going to sneeze?" He asked he looked to Fred, then he started gathering the pieces together, but he was still confused. "What happened to the driver?" he asked, Fred only had enough consciousness to answer. "Boys...bridge...stones...concussion... " With those words, he collapsed, Vanessa caught him in time, she turned to the Stationmaster. "Get him some medical attention, he may need it." She said, the stationmaster nodded, then the pieces in his mind came together. "You do realize that Sir Topham Hatt will be cross with you." He said, Vanessa nodded, but she didn't care. "He'll understand, but for now, those boys will be dealt with twice, once when Henry sneezes the ash that's stuffed in him, they'll learn not to throw stones at us, look at the coaches, their windows were hit by the stones, I'll leave the second part to Sir Topham Hatt, he'll give those boys a scolding once he informs their parents." She explained again, the stationmaster nodded. "Alright, Sir Topham Hatt won't like it, but sometimes such things must be done." He replied, knowing that Vanessa and Henry would get into trouble, then he wondered how much ash Henry had. "By the way, how much ash has Henry got?" He asked, Vanessa giggled. "Plenty." She answered, then she looked to the green tender engine. "We'll show those boys a thing or two , won't we, old fellow?" She asked, Henry winked and smiled.

The stationmaster took Fred inside as the train started up again, at the bridge the boys were ready to throw stones again, but Vanessa and Henry were prepared. "Alright, when they start to throw those stones, we'll give them the punishment they deserve. When I give the signal, sneeze as hard as you can." She instructed, they were nearing bridge as the three boys were about to throw their stones, Henry was about ready when Vanessa gave the signal as Hall Of The Mountain King played in her mind. "LET 'EM HAVE IT!" She shouted, pulling the chord for Henry's whistle.

"ACHOO!"

The boys were startled as the ash hit them, the train was out of sight as Vanessa laughed. "Well done, Henry! Well done!" She said as Henry could breath through his nose again. "Remind me to never do that again, Vanessa." He said as he arrived to Knapford station, Vanessa nodded in agreement. "Noted. By now, Sir Topham Hatt's gonna be cross with us, I'm sure that I can convince him that it wasn't our fault." She said. Later, Sir Topham Hatt was at Tidmouth sheds, he wasn't happy, but he wasn't cross, he was disappointed, though. "What's this I hear about Henry sneezing over a bridge? The boys that were on the bridge told their parents and they told me. Vanessa, where's Fred? I thought he'd be a good driver on the railway, but now I'm not so sure what to think." He said, Vanessa looked guilty and afraid, she didn't want to see the man she became friends with a year ago be fired.

"Actually, sir, it was my idea, and from my side of it, we were assaulted by those boys, they had stones, not only did they damage railway property, but they also assaulted a member of this railway, Fred was given a concussion earlier this morning, he's in the hospital as we speak." Vanessa confessed, Sir Topham Hatt wanted to believe her, but he didn't know if Vanessa was telling the truth. "I want to be fair, Vanessa, but I don't know until I can ask the parents about what they would think of what you told me, and until Fred is out of the hospital, I want to hear it from him." He boomed, Vanessa nodded. "Yes sir, I do speak the truth, and in all truthfulness, those boys lied to their parents, it's just guess, but it's possible, please take that under consideration, sir, none of us think that Fred would be the suspect, it's possible that he's the target the boys want to cause trouble on." She replied, Sir Topham Hatt looked in thought, if Fred was the victim of assault, then it would come clean later. "I...will take your guess into consideration, Ms. Lodge, if you're right, I have a feeling that those boys will be trouble in the future." He said, he left in his Rolls Royce automobile as Gilbert comforted Vanessa as she sobbed. "It'll be alright, Fred will pull through, he's going to need our support, and he needs it badly." He said, Vanessa still sobbed.

Mr. Arkwright nodded in agreement. "Yes, but how can we help him?" He asked, Vanessa calmed down as she looked to Gilbert, she didn't know what to do, then Gilbert had an idea, he laughed, everyone looked at him like he was crazy. "I have an idea, if anyone doesn't object, then here's what we'll do, we go to the homes of the three boys and tell their parents what really happened, that will get Fred out of trouble. Anyone else agree?" He asked, Gordon hadn't been supportive of Fred back then, but seeing how Fred would lose the very job he earned would be devastating, now he felt bad for the young driver, and after hearing what happened from Henry about the boys, he knew those boys would have to be punished. "I second the idea, those children must be punished for their actions, not to mention they damaged railway property, but to see Fred lose his job would be devastating and we all know that it would be the last thing we would want." He said, everyone agreed with Gordon, they began their plan

The next morning was a Saturday, and the crew began their plan to pay the boys out, Gilbert and Vanessa went to the first boy's house, Mr. Arkwright and Mr. Hawkins went to the second boy's house, and finally, Charlie and Sidney went to the third boy's house, and all of them told what the boys had really done, the boys were punished once their parents found out, they weren't happy, the boys were grounded until they helped pay for the damage.

A few days later, Fred was released once he woke up from his coma, the boys apologized to him, He knew they learned their lesson like Gordon did, and he knew that Sir Topham Hatt would watch him closely after what happened, but something happened, Jane Hatt, had been packing for a special occasion, and that occasion was for a holiday, Stephen and Bridget Hatt wanted go as well, and they left for a week, and at that time, they met a tram engine named Toby, and when Sir Topham Hatt came back, he heard that nothing bad had happened, unfortunately, Fred and Thomas were about to be in trouble.

One day, Thomas was taking some cars to the quarry, having Annie and Clarabel on the end of the freight train, the reason was that Thomas had to take workmen to the quarry, and had to do both his passenger run and his freight train at the same time, he didn't mind, especially when he saw the policeman as he always came through the crossing, Thomas liked policemen, they were kind to him when he often passed by, whistling hello every time he met them.

A few days went by, and Thomas was just at the crossing, a new policeman stopped them, he didn't look friendly at all, and Fred knew that Thomas wasn't at fault, he knew that this policeman meant trouble. "Look, we were just only saying good morning, sir. Besides, if you..." He never finished his sentence as he was interrupted by the policeman. "Don't give me that excuse, where are your cowcatchers and side plates? You're breaking the law, every engine must have cowcatchers and side plates." He fumed, Fred looked annoyed. _This idiot can't even tell a tank engine from a tram engine, and on top of that, he sounds like Bluenose from the TUGS cartoon, I bet he even acts like him, too!_ He thought, he was furious. "What idiotic nonsense! we've been here many times, and never had an accident. Besides, there's been no accidents up here at the crossing, and you need to..." He was interrupted once again by the policeman. "That makes it worse!" He shouted, he wrote 'regular breaker' in his notes, he looked to Fred in disappointment. "I will have to speak to your controller about this." he said, Thomas left sadly.

At the station Sir Topham Hatt and Fred argued with the policeman, no matter how hard they argued, it was no use, and Policeman left very full of himself, Fred was very upset. "Well, I suppose we'll have to get those side plates and cowcatchers for Thomas, sir." He said sadly, Thomas looked frightened. "Please, sir, I don't want those on me, people will laugh at me and call me a tram!" He protested, Sir Topham Hatt laughed, he remembered Toby from his holiday. "Well done, Thomas! Why didn't I think of this idea before? While I was on my holiday, I met a nice little tram called Toby." He explained, Fred remembered Toby as well. "Yeah, with Toby, we'll show that policeman who's in charge, when will Toby be here?" He asked, Sir Topham Hatt smiled. "Once I write a letter to his driver and fireman, Toby will be here in a few days." He relied, Fred nodded, he hopped that was enough time for Thomas to be innocent.

Word soon spread, Fred was worried, but he knew that Sir Topham Hatt would have faith in Toby, and once Toby arrived, he frightened the new police officer once he got to the crossing, when Thomas and Fred heard about it from Toby's driver and fireman, they laughed until they got bored rather quickly, as for the policeman? He was fired once Sir Topham Hatt informed the chief of the stunt he had pulled.

Over the course of the week that followed, James had an accident, which everyone laughed about, and the near accident that followed with a landslide, and because of Mrs. Kyndley, Thomas's train was delayed, but everyone was safe, thanks to Mrs. Kyndley's actions, both she and her husband were given a vacation by Sir Topham Hatt, she got better before she came back home, and when she came back, everyone celebrated her heroism for preventing an accident from happening.

As time went on, it was a day before Christmas, and Thomas coming up near a tunnel that led to the Kyndley home, Fred thought it was a great idea to greet Mrs. Kyndley, as they saw the house coming up, they saw Mrs. Kyndley waving, Thomas whistled as Fred waved back. "Happy/Merry Christmas!" They called out as they left in the distance. A day later, they arrived to the sheds, the other engines minus Toby were gleaming as their paintwork shone in the sun.

The engines engaged in a conversation about Mrs. Kyndley, Thomas pitched an idea about having a Christmas party for Mrs. Kyndley, the others agreed as they cheered, but the cheering soon came to an end as Sir Topham Hatt came with bad news, "I have been informed that during last night's weather, Mrs. Kyndley has been snowed in, and she can't make it in time for the Christmas party, unless there's a way we could get her out, we need an idea." He informed, Fred and Thomas and Fred had an idea, they didn't know if they could do it, but they had to try. "Sir, if we may, would it help if we could get Thomas's snowplow? We could also use Toby's and Terrance's help as well, this could be our turn to help Mrs. Kyndley after she saved me, Thomas and our passengers from the landslide." he proposed, Sir Topham Hatt nodded in agreement. "Very well, we mustn't waste time." He ordered, Thomas knew that he had to use his snowplow, and this time, he knew that arguing wasn't going to help, rescuing Mrs. Kyndley was more important.

A few moments later, Thomas and Toby were were charging through snowdrifts, sometimes Thomas got stuck, and this time, he wasn't going to get stuck again thanks to Fred and Vanessa who were doing their best to free Thomas by digging him out of the snow, when they got there, they were just in time, and Terrance was there too, helping clear the snow from the lawn.

Mrs. Kyndley thanked Terrance and He promised Mrs. Kyndley that he'd look after the cottage, both Thomas and Toby left the cottage as they came back to the sheds at night, but it was dark, Thomas almost sank in depression when the lights came on, everyone was there, and the sheds were covered in Christmas lights and decorations, everyone had a good time, but the fun wasn't over, in the sheds after the party, everyone was having a great time, Fred and Vanessa were having fun by playing a game of chess, Gilbert eventually snuck a mistletoe above the two, they didn't even care, Vanessa kissed Fred, he ultimately lost the game, but he decided to kiss her back, only because his girlfriend had won, that got an uproar or catcalls and wolf whistles, Fred laughed. "Alright, I get it, you guys want me to marry Vannesa, right?" He asked, the others nodded, Vanessa knew what they wanted, but she didn't want to go that far. "Cut it out, I'll marry him one day, but I'm not gonna go that far, we've only started, remember?" She countered, no one had thought of that, and neither did the engines, the only one to understand was Fred, he nodded in agreement. "I agree, I don't want to got that far, either, we'll get married one day, but right now, we're just happy to be together." He explained, everyone agreed, there were more adventures to come, but for now, things were quiet, things were definitely going to be crazy after New Year's Eve.

* * *

 **Me: *Looks around to see only me, Fred and Vanessa still around* Well, since everyone's left, I enjoyed writing this chapter, what are your favorite parts you two?**

 **Fred: My favorite part was where Gordon got what he deserved with the jammed whistle.**

 **Vanessa: my favorite part was where Henry and I taught those boys a lesson, I find it funny.**

 **Me: I do, too. but my favorite part was where we got to see Duck before he was a permanent part of the series, and in his RWS colors before he was painted into what we see in the TVS, besides, I'd make him familiar with those of us who would recognize him, and it would make sense sense that he'd be involved with the incident, which would be where he ended up on Sodor when the big engines keep on pressuring Percy into doing more work, and honestly, I feel bad for Percy and Duck for what they're gonna go through.**

 **Fred: Yikes!**

 **Vanessa: Tell me about it, besides, I want to see more, and So does Tam.**

 **Me: Tam? Oh, right, Tam, that person had wanted to see more, I hope he or she understands that writing a story takes a lot of devotion and work for it to be written, besides, after this, I'm still trying to write the other stories, I'm only human and I don't have superpowers.**

 **Fred: Yeah, that's true, and speaking of which, you're gonna be writing a movie for your Captain N series, right?**

 **Me: Yeah, though it'll be a while before I start writing again, like I said, I need a Break.**

 **Alpha: *From off screen* AND YOU NEED ONE, BADLY!**

 **Fred: Is he always like this?**

 **Me: You mean to tell me that you haven't even noticed since last year?**

 **Fred: Nope, I wasn't around until the middle of this year.**

 **Me: Oh...forgot about that.**

 **Vanessa: Don't worry, we'll be here when you get back to work.**

 **Me: Thanks for the support, Vanessa, I really appreciate it.**

 **Vanessa: You're welcome! *Looks at you guys* Don't forget to leave a review, otherwise Prowl wouldn't know what you guys would think of this chapter.**

 **Me: And as always, my fellow readers, I will see you next time. Bye!**


End file.
